Thursday, February 11, 2010

HBR, Let Your Employees Succeed by Letting Them Fail

Good management is somewhere between controlling and ignoring; your job as a manager is to figure out the right balance. When you see an employee making a mistake, you may want to intervene. But, people don't learn by being told how to do something right. Stop yourself from interfering. Let your employee make the mistake and then help her adjust to get it right the next time. Of course, you do need to assess the risks and the consequences of failure -- if your employee is about to present a flawed report to the CEO, intervene. But when the risks are lower, be prepared to watch and endure more failing than you might be comfortable with.Today's Management Tip was adapted from "When Should You Let an Employee Make a Mistake?" by Peter Bregman.